, 16 other Acts and the A.C.T. Self-Government (Consequential Provisions) Regulations to make technical and consequential amendments to ensure that jurisdiction and powers currently being exercised under Commonwealth legislation by Northern Territory Local Court Magistrates may continue to be validly exercised following commencement of the

to clarify the definition of an organism to reflect the use of viruses and sub-viral agents as agent and target organisms for biological control activities in the Australian Capital Territory (including the Jervis Bay Territory).

to: enable New Zealand residents who hold a permanent visa and reside on Norfolk Island access to social security payments from 1 July 2016; align the early claims period for family assistance payments with the early claims periods for social security and child support payments before 1 July 2016; and broaden the definition of the Norfolk Island Regional Council to enable flexibility in the application of local government law;

Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989

and

Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988

to extend the child support scheme to residents of the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands;

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

and

Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984

to require eligible Australian citizens and eligible other persons living in Norfolk Island to enrol and vote in federal elections and referendums; and

Responds to the first interim and final reports of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters’ inquiry into the conduct of the 2013 Federal Election by amending the

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

to: implement a partial optional preferential voting system above the line for Senate elections, including instructing voters to vote for at least six parties or groups in their order of preference; abolish group and individual voting tickets; remove the ability of an individual to be the registered officer or deputy registered officer of multiple registered political parties at the same time; enable political party logos to be printed on ballot papers for the House of Representatives and the Senate; and make technical amendments.

to: enable funding for a home care package to ‘follow’ the care recipient; provide a consistent national approach to prioritising access to subsidised home care; and simplify the approval process for approved providers; and the

to give effect to a mediated settlement agreement in a representative proceeding in the Federal Court of Australia (

Duval-Comrie v Commonwealth of Australia

(VID 1367 of 2013)) and make administrative changes by: increasing one-off payments from 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the difference between the actual wage paid to an eligible person and the amount they would have been paid had the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) productivity-only component been applied; providing a ‘top up’ payment for persons who have already received a 50 per cent payment under the BSWAT payment scheme; removing the current compulsory requirement to obtain legal advice before any payments are made; extending all relevant scheme dates by 12 months; clarifying certain administrative arrangements; and enabling a deceased person’s legal personal representative to engage with the payment scheme on their behalf.

to remove the requirement for the dairy industry to hold a dairy levy poll every five years; and enable the minister to make a legislative instrument to require the industry services body to establish a levy poll advisory committee to consider the levy rate every five years, require the industry services body to hold a levy poll if a variation to the rate is recommended by the advisory committee, and include a mechanism for dairy farmer members of Dairy Australia Limited to request a poll if they disagree with the advisory committee’s decision not to convene a levy poll.